Chapter 2

Nightcrawler

The months hadn’t taken long to go by. The now two-year-old Amanda had figured out that the little blue creature that spent the days with her was there to stay. She didn’t seem to mind; to her he was a playmate and a way to get herself out of trouble by blaming any sort of accident on him, (like the time when she knocked over a glass candy-dish and the little blue baby was just starting to crawl around).

Margali had started off frustrated and upset every time she would get one settled down and then the other would start up. Yet through it all, her love for Kurt Wagner grew as if he was her own. The only problem came when she had to run to the store for food, clothes, or anything else. Even though Kurt was basically her own child now, she didn’t want to be seen with a blue mutant child. She tried to tell herself that it was because it might ruin business if people knew and the word would spread around quickly, but it was more the fact that mutants were like the ugly duckling in a group of swans. She could hear screams and shouts play in her head when she thought of wheeling a carriage with her two-year-old daughter and a six-month-old blue mutant that looked like a demon child.

Luckily Chester and his wife did their fare share of babysitting. Chester’s wife had found the whole idea despicable and criticized Margali for taking on a mutant child, but once she played with Kurt those thoughts melted away like snow in the spring.

There was no doubt about it; Kurt Wagner, the little blue mutant, had become a favorite amoungst the circus crowd. And he loved the attention. There was rarely a moment when he didn’t wear a smile on his little blue mouth.

By Amanda’s birthday in mid-April, he had already been a month into the crawling stage. Margali was amazed that he was developing so quickly. Well, compared to Amanda that is. His little blue head had grown a thick mass of dark indigo curls, where it took nearly nine months for Amanda’s hair to grow in to a nice length. And he was already trying to make words, although it was mostly just baby babble.

By Kurt’s third birthday, he had become quite the little devil. Chester laughed whenever he saw the little mutant, saying he was still in the “Terrible Two’s” stage. But Margali was ready for him to be an adult and get out of the house.

“No!” Amanda screamed from where she sat in Margali’s trailer.

A little laugh was emitted when Kurt saw the small bottle of paint cover the picture Amanda had proudly worked on. It wasn’t intentional, but Kurt’s little blue tail had whipped around to the side when he moved to get to his feet and get his own paintbrush from Amanda’s box.

“Mommy!”

Margali came hustling into the trailer and wanted to pull her hair out when she saw the now huge mess all over her trailer’s floor. “Nein! Mein Gott, Kurt!” She lectured as she picked up the little mutant and set him on the counter, his hands, bare feet, and clothes covered in paint.

“Mommy! He ruined it! He made a mess!” Amanda cried, holding up her now destroyed painting.

“Enough Amanda!” Margali said as she took a bunch of paper towels and hastily cleaned up the mess.

Kurt laughed from his spot, wagging his tail and pointing it to Amanda’s deformed picture.

“Meanie!” Amanda yelled running out of the trailer crying her eyes out.

“Its not funny Kurt,” Margali scolded. “You made a huge mess for me.”

Kurt’s happy expression faded away and his yellow eyes stared down to the floor. “I sowwie, Margali.”

Margali finished with the floor and put the used towels into the trash. She reached over for clean sheets from the roll and wet it under the faucet. “Give me your hands,” she said. Kurt lifted his arms, letting her wipe the drying paint from his blue skin. “What will I ever do with you?” She said, but her tone was much more gentle than it had been only seconds before.

Kurt watched her, feeling rather ashamed. He looked up to her and then realized his tail had found a paintbrush before he was put on the counter. The devil’s tail moved forward and held up the brush to Margali, making her mouth form a small smile.

“Be more careful, alright?” she said as she set him back down on the floor when she was finished. “And go apologize to Amanda.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Kurt left the trailer slowly and sought out his foster sister. He knew she was mad, but he thought it was funny when the paint poured over the flower she had drawn. He found her sitting on a milk crate inside the large yellow circus tent. “I’m sowwie, ‘Manda.”

Amanda looked up and stuck her tongue out at him. “No you’re not.”

“Yes I am!”

“No you’re not!”

“Yes I am!”

“Nein!”

“Ja!”

“Hey you guys! Lunch is ready!” Chester called, knowing quite well that he had interrupted another quarrel.

Amanda jumped to her feet, her drawing paper forgotten to the floor below her. Kurt made a move to follow, but she pushed him so he’d fall down. Although this happened, he didn’t much mind it. He thought it all a game; therefore he jumped on all fours and ran after her like a cat.

When the circus returned to Munich a few days later, Amanda and Kurt had made up and played with her dolls the entire way home. Lucky Kurt had been the monster that was terrorizing Amanda’s favorite doll, Barbie, and Amanda made the ‘handsome’ boy doll unleash a deadly weapon that defeated Kurt by the time Margali pulled the truck into the driveway.

“No fair!” Kurt said as Amanda jumped out before him and ran to the front porch.

Amanda was about to reach for the doorknob when Kurt’s tail twisted up and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back down and falling to her bottom.

“Kurt!” Margali’s voice trailed to where they stood by front of the door. “Don’t let me ever see that again! And no desert for you tonight.”

Kurt’s head drooped and his tail hung between his short legs as Margali opened the door for them to go inside. The desert didn’t matter to him much, but he didn’t like it when Margali yelled at him.

That night Margali had trouble sleeping, so she went downstairs to make herself a cup of tea. She had just finished stirring the liquid when she heard the ceiling squeaking above her. Kurt’s room was overhead, and she knew by that sound he was up. She let out a sigh and went upstairs, taking a sip from time to time from her mug.

“Kurt,” she said quietly as she opened the door. “Why are you up at this hour?”

Kurt sat crouched on a chair across from his bed holding one of the action figures he got for his birthday a few weeks ago. “I’m sowwie, Margali.”

Margali smiled and sat down on his bed. “Come here,” she said soothingly and patted the bed. Kurt hopped down, crawled on hands and feet to his bed and jumped up to sit next to her. “Super Man?” she asked as she looked at the action figure.

“Ja,” he said with a toothy grin. “He was flying.”

Margali nodded and put her arm around Kurt. “This is the fourth time you’ve been up in the middle of the night. Are you feeling alright?”

Kurt nodded, looking rather perky for that time of night. “Ja.”

“Well, you’ll wake Amanda if you play like this. Go back to bed and try to sleep.”

Kurt pouted. “But I’m not sleepy, Margali. I’ll be good. I promise.”

Margali had been ready to argue, but she decided to leave it at that. His promise became good to his word. Every night Kurt would be up for hours on end and play quietly on his bed. Margali had gotten up with him in routine for the first few months, playing with him, reading to him, or just keeping an ear out for him. Eventually she realized that this was the way he was, perhaps because of his mutated self. And along with these nights of staying up, Margali had adopted the nickname of Nightcrawler.

Three a.m. was a pleasant time because Kurt would finally become tired and drift off to sleep. Margali often had to pick him up and put him to bed, tucking him in to keep him warmer. She would lean down and kiss his blue forehead. “Guten Nacht,” she whispered, “my little Nightcrawler.”

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German Translations: Nein-No

Ja-Yes

Mein Gott-My God

Guten Nacht-Good night